Vancouver Comic Con this weekend

Live painting demonstration on Friday, actual Comicon event on Sunday

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – If you see grown men and women dressed up as comic book heroes this weekend, don’t be alarmed. Vancouver Comic Con is back with two events.

“The con is on Sunday, and on Friday night two artists are in town to do a live painting demonstration with hip hop music,” says long-time Comic Con organizer Leonard Wong.

The artists dashing out paintings to music are Jim Mahfood (Kick Drum Comics, Stupid Comics, Grrl Scouts, Marijuanaman) and Dave Crosland (Yo Gabba Gabba! Comic Book Time, CBGB, Puffed), both from Los Angeles.

“They’ve both done comics but are also known for their urban art and a lot of graffiti-type work,” says Wong. “They’ve done record covers and are just all around creators in that way. They’ve come up to do the live art show where they’re going to make these giant paintings that they are going to sell at the end of the night.”

“There will be a number of local creators here, along with Jim and Dave. There are vendors and a model-making company doing live demos and showing samples,” says Wong, adding Super Mario and the Nintendo crew will also make an appearance.

As comic cons go, Vancouver’s is not what you would call a major event.

“No!” laughs Wong. “It’s a weird city, so we don’t have the big shows like San Diego or New York. I’ve been doing this show for over 20 years and I’ve consciously kept it small so it’s more like a boutique show that way.”

“I bring in one or two artists at a time and it’s more like a party than a big crazy trade show,” he explains.

“People actually get to spend time talking to the creators and, quite honestly, I find most creators like a smaller show where they can interact with the fans instead of having it be like a baseball card signing.”

The live art show is Friday from 8 to 11 p.m. The convention is Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $4 and kids under 14 years of age are free.